Half Life 3: Combined Forces
by The Typer
Summary: A thought up idea of Half Life 3. Look for the pun in the title and you should understand a little bit about the storyline. I am back, temporarily! Chapter 1 has been revised! Don't expect a full comeback yet, this is a break from my other book, kind of.
1. Chapter 1: Point Destruction

Half-Life 3: Combined Forces

From the Author

I thought up this story _before_ I even played Half-Life 2. And I played Half-Life 2 _before_ any other Half-Life game. So in short, the whole storyline was thought up from what I knew about the Half-Life series. And believe it or not, I knew quite a bit storyline wise because I read too many reviews and found too many spoilers. I will do my best to keep this close to the Half-Life universe, but I can only do so much.

Chapter 1: Point Destruction

"Your leader is dead! You have been defeated! If you wish to live, I suggest that all of you cooperate."

Barney Calhoun spoke firmly to the squad of eight Combine soldiers that he, along with others including Gordon Freeman had captured. It was a bright day, and a glorious one a person might say. Dr. Breen, the collaborator of humanity, the Benedict Arnold of the 20th and 21st century, the person who was responsible for so much death and destruction, was dead. Killed by the crowbar of the great Dr. Freeman he was. The Combine forces were now defeated and captured. Few remained that could fight against the will of humanity now, but will is something that one can destroy.

Barney Calhoun, his squad of four soldiers, two being medics, and Gordon Freeman were standing about twenty feet away from the citadel walls. Alyx was taking her father, Eli Vance, and Judith Mossman, over to Dr. Kliener's Lab. Mossman had betrayed the alliance of human soldiers who fought against the Combine, but in a way back stabbed Dr. Breen and was now going to be kept captive until she could prove that she was still on the correct side. Apparently not all of Earth was free from the clutches of the Combine yet. The hand had only been smacked, and therefore, it would only be a matter of time before the Combine started to gain their grip once more. Dr. Kliener and Eli had been cooking something up for exactly this sort of occasion, but that too, would take time to set into motion.

Gordon Freeman stood next to a building, slightly away from the crowd. He observed Barney, watching him speak to the squad of captured Combine. But he was also keeping a sharp eye on the buildings around him. The last time Gordon accomplished something so vast and impossible, someone else had arrived and took him away from existence. Humanity could not afford his loss again, not now.

"It is over for you!" Barney said firmly.

Seconds later all of the attention turned to a laughing Combine Elite soldier. He was laughing with a small chuckle, one that was not extreme but enough to be insulted by. Barney walked over to him, "What's so funny?"

The Elite Combine gained his control of chuckles and replied, "You. You think it is over for us. That may be true. But you have no clue as to what is coming."

Gordon walked closer to the Combine immediately taking interest. Barney questioned him, "What are talking about?"

"This whole time, you have been fighting us and you have no idea who the real enemy is. You think we just popped in and decided to kill you. Think about it. You people have been so absorbed into saving humanity from us, you forgot who the real enemy is. You forgot the past; think back to Black Mesa, we weren't the enemies there. Not yet at least."

"So who is the enemy?"

Gordon listened intensely and eventually began to hear something, something out of the ordinary.

"He is the real cause for all of this. He is the real _person_ responsible."

"Who is it?" Barney began to say impatiently.

Gordon could hear some of the sounds clearer now. _.it., .., .im. _

"You are all fools and idiots for caring too much about defeating us."

"Tell me!"

Gordon's attention to the discussion was fading as his attention to the background sound grew. _It is time._ He knows what is being said but he could not figure out who was saying it. The voice was familiar.

"His name is unknown to even the Combine race, but we are not the only ones who have met him." Said the Combine while holding back his smile underneath the faceless helmet.

"Give me the name!" Barney demanded.

Gordon heard the voice again, "It is time."

"Who was that?" Barney asked.

Gordon now knew. Everyone could hear it.

"It was I Mr. Calhoun."

Behind the Combine soldiers faded in the figure of a man wearing a blue suit, with a neat tie. The man was quite pale, he had a very boring expression on his face and his head shape was odd. He faded in out of nowhere though, it did not make much sense but it was real no doubt. Gordon immediately knew who it was.

Barney's puzzled face finally spoke after the person faded completely into the world, "I've seen you before, back at Black Mesa. Who are you?"

The man took a strange breath in and spoke in a misused tone way, "Barney Calhoun. The last time I saw you was at Black Mesa. I particularly enjoyed handling your _case_. Had my contract not been revoked I would have finished my job, unlike some un-notable _others_."

"What?" Barney replied.

"But that is unnecessary background information. I do wish we could have the time to explain things in full, but time is not a very friendly ehm…friend to my _employers_, quite an ironic possibility since they waited twenty years to come this far."

Barney was completely confused. But Gordon was not, at least in who this man was. His intentions were much harder to read and understand.

"Now since my time is limited, I once again cannot explain things until…well, I do not have a final statement to say when. But it is time." The G-Man walked over to Gordon. "It is good to see that you have fulfilled the correct objectives Mr. Freeman.

This world must come to its final end though. And even though I have litigated to my higher personal that you are a worthy being that has higher…potential for further use, I am sorry to say they turned down any requests to again protect you from certain _hazards_. I am deeply sorry to see you go Mr. Freeman, but I cannot do anything."

A low rumble could be heard, growing over time.

"Were there more _time_, I would be able to explain things in full. And you, of all people Mr. Freeman, deserve an explanation, as you have been a great cog in our works and in the end receive nothing but death. But _they_ care nothing for _us_. And without the free will, so expressed by yourself, we cannot do anything about that. Not even _you_ can stop them."

The rumble grew into a steady stream of noise that just got louder over time. A pair of oddly shaped jets flew through the sky, showing off streams of black clouds forming behind them. Gordon was distracted and watched them fly by his view. They circled around, and started moving in lower.

"They're going to attack," shouted Barney. "Get to cover!"

Gordon did not have much time to move as the jets were homing in right behind him. But in front of him, two more jets were storming right for him. He ran for cover to his right, up against some buildings. A large row of debris and explosions filled the street like just a few hours earlier. Gordon walked back out to see the man who was just talking to him, unscathed, adjusting his tie. Gordon walked back up in front of the man. Just then two of the now four jets shot a rocket and hit a building up the street. A chunk of the building flew right for Gordon and knocked him up against the barrier walls of the Citadel. He was embedded into the wall for the moment. The pair of jets once again bombarded the streets as Barney and another soldier shot RPG rounds at the jets, attempting to take them down. Dust and rubble was thrown up in two rows that spread and covered Gordon's entire view of the street. As he looked down the isle, his vision was blurred, dark, and perception of color was off. Noise had been deafened, or muffled. Yet a persistent ringing was in his ear. The dust cleared and the man in the tie was walking towards him.

He had gotten up to Gordon, and he leaned forward, becoming nose to nose with his hands clasped behind his back. He then spoke. The voice vibrated and reverberated in Gordon's head. "Please take this in the way intended Mr. Freeman: There is nothing we can do. For your own sake, freedom has already been sacrificed. Your will is pointless now. They cannot end, and so any other efforts are futile. I wish there was another way for all of this to have gone, but this is not the first ending like this. I suppose if there were more _time_ and _freedom_ to think ahead of _time_, then maybe some things could have been changed for the better."

The man turned around and started walking up the street. He turned his head a bit, as if to say something to Gordon. His lips did not move, but the voice could once again be heard in Gordon's head. "Goodbye, Mr. Freeman."

He then continued his walk. Another bombardment took place, extending from the barrier wall outwards. Gordon's view of the man disappeared once again. But this time, as the dust settled, the man was not there.

Gordon blinked and saw Barney, the rebels, and the Combine captives move out into the street, all providing covering fire as Barney ran over to Gordon. Barney's voice was muffled. "Gordon, hang on a second old buddy. I'll get you out of this in a second."

Barney turned towards someone out of Gordon's sight and waved his hand to come forwards. Dog appeared.

"Now don't crush him Dog, just get him out of there safely," said Barney.

Dog hopped behind the large barriers and pushed forward on the dented part in which Gordon resided. Gordon sprung out of the large gates and fell into Barney's arms. Pain struck throughout Gordon's body as Barney tried to stand him up. "Walter," Barney shouted. A moment later a medic arrived. In the background, Gordon could see numerous jets and tanks arriving, these did not belong to their side though. At the same time, many Striders, rebels, and Combine soldiers were showing up at the scene, tackling the enemy.

Walter and Barney lifted Gordon up by the feet and shoulders. "God, this suit is heavy. How does he walk around in this thing?" Barney commented.

Gordon's vision went dark for a number of moments as he was carried away. The next thing he saw was that he was sitting in a seat on the edge of a Combine dropship. There were other rebels and Combine soldiers with him.

The dropship took off slowly. As the ship got higher Gordon could see more dropships throughout City 17 all crawling into the sky like his dropship was. Soon enough Gordon could see that City 17 was covered with many strange vehicles that did _not _belong to the Combine, or the humans. Small explosions began covering City 17 and some of its outskirts. The ships were now far enough to see other cities. Forcefields were put up to allow the humans to breath safely in what was now a higher atmosphere.

Barney leaned in towards Gordon and shouted over the roaring engines, "Gordon. The Combine soldier told me that they evacuated as many humans as they could, Alyx, Eli, Judith, and Kliener were evacuated too. They're going to take us to their headquarters. For now, we're at supposed peace with the Combine. Either that, or we're prisoners."

A resistance soldier next to Gordon replied to Barney, "So what now?"

Gordon thought the exact same thing.


	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected Reuniting

**Author's Note: I would like to see some more reviews so I know what I am doing wrong and so I can make this story better. Thanks.**

Chapter 2: Unexpected Reuniting

As the dropships proceeded farther into space it got colder and colder for the humans inside. Hours later the dropship pilots began to speak, "We're almost there. We're about ten minutes out."

The humans smiled in approval, some didn't fearing what would happen next. Barney got up from his seat and walked over to a seat across from the Combine soldier. "Why did you save us?" Barney shouted over the howling engines.

The Metrocop looked at him for a little bit and finally spoke, "I was under orders from my commander."

"Who is he?" a citizen asked.

"A Combine Officer, he said that the Advisor wanted this to happen."

Barney called out, "Did he say why by any chance?"

The Elite shook his head and the conversation ended. In a few more minutes the dropships came into contact with a large base. It was a large, bulky, base that had the look of importance. On the top of the base were dark, blue colors and in several areas were markings of the Combine. It definitely had the eerie Combine architecture; one look at the base and any one person would agree that it belonged to the Combine. As gloomy as the top portion of the base looked, the bottom side was different. It had many brighter blue lights glowing from hanger bays and rooms.

Gordon along with everyone else could hear the two pilots talking to a Combine on the other end of their headset. A citizen asked the Combine, "What are they talking about? Aren't we landing here?"

The metrocop reassured the citizen, "They are just getting permission to land. They cannot land if the enemy has captured their ship or if they give the wrong codes to the officer in the hanger."

The dropships continued to orbit around the behemoth base. Barney moved over back to the seat across from Gordon and looked out the thin blue static shields keeping him and everyone else alive.

"Gordon, back at City 17, who was that guy?" Barney asked with a small tone of fear in his voice.

Gordon obviously did not reply, he only looked at him. Barney smiled a little remembering that Gordon does not talk. He then came up with something that could give him an answer, "Do you know him?"

Gordon sighed and gave a little nod. The hollow voice of the Combine spoke out, "We have permission to enter. We will be landing down in just a minute." The dropship finished it's repeated orbit and slowly began to move towards a brightly lighted white hanger bay in the underside of the giant base. The second ship flew in next to it and finally the ships touched down onto the floor. After a few moments the giant engines shut down and immediately after that two Combine soldiers with pulse rifles walked behind the dropship holding their rifles up at the civilians. Gordon put his finger down at his supercharged gravity gun and was ready to pull it out. Barney looked over at him and very discretely shook his head. The static fields shut down after that and a darkly red colored Combine walked into view. The two pulse rifle soldiers lowered their weapons and the red Combine spoke, "I am an officer with the Combine who ordered the metrocop with you to pick you up. For the moment you can call me 78. It stands for my Combine Officer number 14735278. Mr. Freeman we have been expecting you along with you Mr. Calhoun. We all have much to discuss but that is for another time. For the moment it is my duty to make sure that each and every one of you receive your rooms where you will be staying tonight. Now if you will follow my two men and I, we will escort you to your rooms."

Barney and Gordon got off first and stretched their legs. Others got off after; one lady got off, took a few steps and puked on the floor. The people had a scared look on their face and were afraid that maybe this was just another place for the Combine to kill them off. 78 noticed this and decided to help, "Do not worry, the Combine leaders have no intention of hurting you now."

It did not help much.

The group of Combine and humans walked out of the hanger bay through a large doorway. It was many minutes of walking down hallways that were almost all the same. Gordon found a large window on one side of the hallway that was completely black. Inside was a large black chamber or round like hold for something. A small voice once again entered Gordon's head but this time it was being spoken in another language. A tongue that was completely alien to Gordon. And the voice faded within seconds as if it only existed when he could see the chamber of darkness. After many twists and turns everyone finally reached an area tucked away from the rest of the places. It was like a complex that no one visited, a place set away that no Combine were going to. This area was a wide hallway with several different doors. 78 turned to the humans, "These will be your dormitories, you are free to wonder around anywhere in which the walls are white. This would include sectors that include bathrooms and other dormitories where we have other humans from across the world. Enjoy the night, and try to get some sleep much is going to happen in the next few days." 78 motioned for Barney and Gordon to follow him and the three of them left the white walled rooms.

78 was a very strange looking Combine, instead of two or one round eye socket on his helmet he had four round bright green glowing sockets. His armor was as thick as an Elite's. Gordon wondered what other types of Combine existed, and if there were many other types hidden.

After many more long and boring hallways Gordon and Barney were lead to two big silver doors. 78 opened them to reveal a large meeting room with many Combine and a few other humans. The first thing Gordon saw was Alyx talking to Dr. Kliener. Alyx eventually spotted Gordon and stopped her discussion with Dr. Kliener and rushed over to Gordon.

"You're alive!" Alyx said. "We were not told what happened to you or Barney, I was so worried."

Dr. Kliener fixed his glasses and walked over to Barney, "Good to see you and Gordon have made it out of there safely. The Combine broke into our base very quickly and grabbed us out of there. I almost forgot Lamarr, almost."

Barney shook his head, "You should have forgotten her."


	3. Chapter 3: The Meeting

Author's Note: Please leave reviews! I really want to know how I am doing. Thank you.

Chapter 3: The Meeting

78 called out to the crowd of humans and Combine. "Okay everyone, if you would all be seated now we can begin the discussion on what will happen next. And you should also get some answers that you have been looking for."

Everyone sat down in the metal Combine chairs that were placed around a square meeting table. A golden colored Combine who was seated at the end of the table stood up and spoke first. "Before we begin I would like to first address the humans. I _hope_ I am vowing for the entire Combine race when I say this. We are deeply sorry for the problems we have caused to your people. We did what we did to survive, and that will be explained later in the meeting. I believe it is time for The Advisor to come in."

The golden Combine pressed a button underneath the desk and at the far end of the room, what looked like a sheet for projections rolled up to reveal a black small chamber. The same chamber Gordon saw earlier. It opened up and a green blob of disgust floated out of it. Every Combine in the room stood up immediately. The green slime colored blob spoke in a strange unknown language and the Combine sat down.

The blob was covered with many mechanical devices that held it up in the air. Something that looked like a gas mask covered a small portion of what was supposedly the ugly creatures face, though it did not appear to have a face. After a little bit of examination, one would believe that this creature was completely dependent on machines to live.

Gordon had already seen this thing before in recordings and on screens where Breen had been talking to it, but never this close. Only a large piece of glass separated the thing from the room.

The golden Combine spoke again. "This is the Combine Advisor. One of many he is, but this one is known to be the leader of them all, our leader. You may call him The Advisor, nothing else. I would not recommend upsetting him, or any other advisor you come across."

The Advisor turned the area of his head towards Gordon and appeared to stare at him, though it is not sure if he had eyes to stare at him. Gordon stared back while lowering his eyebrows. But he did not give off a look of anger, only curiosity.

78 began to speak. "First, I believe it is necessary to discuss why things that happened, happened."

The Combine looked over to The Advisor for approval of the suggestion, after a moment the Advisor made some strange noises and nodded his head.

78 continued. "Okay, we came to your planet as a means of survival. You see that shady character who you happened to be fighting, the G-Man…"

Alyx interrupted him. "Is that his real name?"

78 answered. "No, but his appearance looks like a G-Man." Alyx nodded and 78 continued. "When we rescued you happened to attack us before we came to earth. We lived peacefully on our planet, somewhat, we had armies, but not like we do now. He came to our planet with an army of his own for no apparent reason. He only told us that resisting what he had in store for us would be pointless. The G-Man's army had it's own alien appearance, at least to us. It was full of black ships, black soldiers, and other uncanny things. We were not much of a fight to him, and we lost quickly. What was left of us fled the planet and over time developed our leech tactics. We took over our first planet and slowly killed off the inhabitants, transforming those who were willing into us. After several years we had a new species with the best characteristics from the planet we just devoured. But the G-Man was still following us, and although we had killed the species on that planet, he destroyed the planet. And so we fled again to come across another planet, and repeated the same thing. We repeated, and so did he. Every new home we had created he destroyed. After repeated planets we became stronger because of the handpicked perfections in each race. Though we did not want to engulf so many planets for survival, the planets we hoped to find refuge on did not easily welcome us. The repetition of planet devouring eventually grew so much that we noticed inside us that we were becoming the perfect thing in every race, a master race. We did not seek to become the master race, but we were only forced too because of the G-Man and his will to destroy us. Every planet he destroyed was destroyed in different ways. Some were engulfed in flame, and others were eaten away by unknown parasites.

After so many planets, we came to Xen."

78 took a break, and Barney decided to come in. "So Xen was another planet destroyed like all the others?"

78 resumed. "No. We had grown so sick of leeching each and every planet, never having a true home; we decided to try something different on Xen. When we were capturing the planet before Xen we had heard word that Earth was attempting to create teleporters that would link the two worlds possibly. So once we were finished on our current planet, we hopped over to Xen. We hoped that if possible, we could take over your planet, and either swallow up your race and make it ours, or possibly join together. Your planet had high reputation for fighting, though you only fought amongst yourselves. So we contacted Breen, bribed him, and turned his beliefs to us. The story of Earth's downfall you should already know, and for some reason Xen was not destroyed. The reasons for it not being destroyed are unknown, and because you and your people overthrew our base setup on Earth, we cannot attempt to destroy you. This also shows, that you are stronger than us, whether it is because of Gordon Freeman or if it is the will of mankind, but whatever the reason, you are stronger. That man appears to seek to destroy mankind now."

After a brief silence the gold Combine talked. "That is why we are here right now. You proved that you can beat us, and we are not strong enough to take on the G-Man. The Advisor, and the other Advisors agree that we cannot defeat him alone. But it might be possible to end his reign of destruction together. We are willing to fight together, if you are."

Gordon eyeballed Barney who was diagonally across from him. Barney nodded his head already understanding what Gordon was thinking. "I think, if it is okay, that the humans be allowed to discuss something privately, so we can decide."

All heads turned to The Advisor in approval and he nodded his head slowly. Gordon, Barney, Eli, Dr. Kliener, and Alyx all stepped out of the room and stopped just outside the door. They formed a circle and began to discuss their decision.

Barney went first; "I don't know if we can trust them, they have been trying to kill us for nearly 20 years. A sudden choice can kill us right away."

Eli went after him; "True, but all we will get out of refusing this would lead to either our destruction or the same fate the Combine have been living our for years."

Then Alyx. "How do we know if even the both of us can stand up to him?"

Dr. Kliener went next. "It is a better choice than refusing Alyx."

Barney added. "They do seem desperate, and their story is believable."

Eli mentioned. "This choice does not just go between the five of us though, we represent the entire world right now. Will the people be happy with our choices?"

Barney responded. "I think they would be happy if we chose to possibly die in the next few days than in a couple hours."

"If we refuse they will probably kill what is left of us and take our greater abilities." Alyx said.

Gordon was completely silent through all of this, like always, noting each phrase.

"Then it is agreed." Eli said. "We are going to agree to join forces with the Combine?"

All four agreed, and Gordon gave a slight nod.

They all walked back in and sat down, all except for Barney. "We have decided to accept your proposal Advisor."

The golden Combine stood up. "Then it is agreed, we will now be in this together, no matter what."

A gray colored Combine began to speak as the golden one sat down. "I believe we should now discuss what our next move against our enemy will be."

Once again everyone looked to The Advisor for approval, and he agreed.

The gray one continued. "Okay, Earth has been taken over. Whatever the G-Man plans to do with that planet, he WILL do it."

Barney spoke. "He will obviously destroy the planet, that wouldn't be good for any of us. We don't want it destroyed of course, and for the Combine that would mean that a whole new planet would have to be found. This means having to leech off of another race."

The Advisor gurgled some noises and the golden Combine finally spoke. "Your point is well noted Mr.…."

"Call me Barney."

"Very well," and the golden Combine continued, "The Advisor says that he and ALL of the other Advisors do not want to deal with another planet. Earth has been our most heavily fortified planet so far. Everything we have constructed, along with mankind's creations, will be destroyed if we choose another place to fight."

Dr. Kliener began to speak. "This would mean retaking Earth. That person has already taken over the planet, and we evacuated it. Something must be done to preserve our planet for the time."

A light blue Combine began to speak. "That sounds quite difficult, making a device would take too long, the planet could be consumed in a black hole by then."

Other Combine began to discuss things and argue over what should be done, no doubt the humans joined in as well. Gordon just sat there and listened to them all.

"Blow up key areas!" One would say.

"No, too much damage." Another would reply.

It went on for quite a few minutes until finally Barney came up with something; "We could just take it back."

Everyone went silent, except for Gordon who had been silent the whole time. And all eyes turned to the voice.

"What?" He shrugged. "We both do have armies and weapons. The Combine has many numbers, and the humans have heavy will to take back our land. The Combine technology is without a doubt useful. I use pulse rifles all the time."

Gordon smiled in approval.

Dr. Kliener spoke out. "Barney does have a point you know. My teleporters work properly, and if the G-Man's forces have not taken over my hideout we might be lucky enough to send some Combine over to the Citadel."

The light blue Combine immediately thought up an idea. "The Citadel had many tubes connected to it before we left. If those tubes are still operational, we might be able to get a squad set up in the Citadel and send Combine through the tubes to retake the other Citadels."

"The Citadel walls can be breached pretty easily. All we need to do is make it to the walls without being killed. After that, Dog can lift the walls and you can go in the way Gordon did." Responded Barney.

Alyx suggested. "And with Dog I'm pretty sure you can make it all the way to the Citadel walls without too much trouble."

An Elite spoke. "Dog? Is that the gigantic robot that we brought alone on a drophsip?"

"Yes. He is a pet of my daughter's." Said Eli.

78 began speaking. "I have seen Dog, and he is quite a distraction. If the team with Dog invading the Citadel can cause enough of a distraction, the squad of Combine can slip into Dr. Kliener's base unnoticed."

The Advisor called out, in plain English. "The plan is very well thought up. The teams should be assigned now before we go into the advanced things."

At the same time The Advisor spoke the eyes of the humans quickly turned to him. "That thing can talk?" Alyx asked.

"Yes." The golden Combine answered. "He avoided speaking with you in your language until we knew you had gained our trust. I believe The Advisor is correct. We should split up teams first and then each team will train for this mission."

"I can take Kliener over to his lab with the squad of Combine. I just might need someone with me." Barney suggested.

78 responded right away. "I have a squad of eight that I can put under your command. And I would go with you."

Alyx added. "I'll tag along, I know how to get everywhere in City 17, just in case we hit some detours."

"Dog will no doubt be with the Combine squad attempting to take back the Citadel, and I think Gordon Freeman will do well alongside him." Said the golden Combine.

"The Citadel will not be operational on it's own. The squad of Combine will not know how to power up everything. I believe I should go to the Combine as well so the Citadel powers up correctly." The grey Combine pointed out.

The Advisor nodded his head slowly and said. "Then it is agreed. We will conduct the mission as soon as the squads of Combine know what to do. We do not want to waste any time. The meeting is over."


	4. Chapter 4: The Cards

Chapter 4: The Cards

After the meeting Barney, Dr. Kliener, Eli, Lamarr, Alyx, and Gordon all returned to the complex of white walls and rooms. Gordon silently slipped into a room at the far end of a hall. He slid the sliver like door shut. The room was simple, a bed in the far right corner, and a desk next to it with a lamp. The walls were obviously silver, and a poster was hung up on the left wall of the Combine symbol. There was also a dresser across from the bed. Gordon opened the six drawers to find civilian clothes that most humans arrived at cities in, an extra pillow, an extra bed sheet, and a card. Gordon became curious and picked up the card, it had some Combine writing on it and below it was human writing.

_This card will give you access to the red rooms within this Combine ship. The red rooms are where you can if you wish to, be transferred into a Combine unit and fight under the banner of the Combine. To join us fill out the information below and head to the nearest red rooms. There should be an officer waiting at a desk just inside the red rooms where you will give the officer the card. If you are accepted you will be taken to the Combine facilities. The map provided on the back of this card shows all of the red rooms on your floor._

Gordon immediately left his room and walked around until he found Barney's room, he knocked on the door and waited. A moment later the door slowly slid open and Barney appeared in the doorway. He was wearing a white t-shirt with the arms scratched up, a blue robe, and shorts. "What is it Gordon?" He said rubbing his eyes.

The card was handed to him. Barney took a few seconds reading it and soon enough his face changed to a raging anger. "Great. They are still trying to get us."

Barney, infuriated, stomped over to Eli's room and started banging on the door. "Eli! Open up!"

Eli shouted through the door annoyed. "Keep it down." He slid the door open. Eli was wearing red and white-stripped pajamas with a nightcap of the same pattern. The stripes were going vertically up and down. "I know, I know, I found the card myself."

"Well what are we going to do?" Barney asked angered. "These have probably been handed out to every human room in this entire ship. We just made an agreement with them and now half of what is left of us may be turned into Combine!"

"Hang on. I'll go wake Izzy and we will just have to reach as many people as we can." Eli walked out and closed the door behind him.

The three of them walked over to Dr. Kliener's room. Eli knocked a few times and the door opened up. "Yes." Said the doctor with a pleasant voice. He was still wearing his lab coat. Barney shouldered his way past Eli and barged in. Eli and Gordon followed Barney in. Kliener's room was incredible. In the short time they were in their rooms Kliener had set up a load of objects, small teleporters, test computers, Lamarr's cage and some of his own personal items.

Dr. Kliener spoke nicely. "Just make yourselves at home. And do try not to break anything. I was able to grab a few things from my lab before I was picked up and I have been able to get a few things set up."

Barney stormed over to Kliener's dresser and opened up his drawers eventually finding the card. He ripped the card out and slammed the drawer shut. Barney shoved the card in Kliener's face and shouted. "Read this!"

Kliener, who was shaken a bit by Barney's anger, took the card gently and read it. After a few moments Kliener said in a worried tone. "Oh dear."

"So what are we going to do about this!?" Barney asked.

Eli spoke calmer. "Settle down Barney, we don't want to yell or panic right now."

Kliener replied. "I believe Eli is right Barney, yelling will not solve this."

On top of one of Dr. Kliener's desks was Lamarr, creeping up behind Barney. "Well these cards are not going to solve anything either. We just got through joining forces with these guys." Barney argued.

Lamarr jumped off of the desk and landed right on top of Barney's head. Barney immediately began struggling to get the little headcrab off, but it would not budge. After a minute or so Barney began crashing into things. Dr. Kliener decided to attempt to remove his pet from Barney's head. Eli and Gordon watched the event take place, after a little bit Eli got bored and turned to Gordon. "Gordon, why don't you head to bed? I'm sure you're tired."

Barney accidentally hit a lamp, causing it to fall over creating a shattering noise. Eli jumped at the surprise in noise and then continued talking. "I'll take care of things here and make sure the humans don't make any mistakes."

Gordon nodded and looked over Eli's shoulder to see Barney swinging around trying to get Lamarr off his head, while Dr. Kliener was following behind him trying to help and make sure his pet was not killed.

After returning to his room, Gordon changed into the civilian clothes and plopped onto his bead. He was getting under the blankets when he heard a metal knock come from the door. Gordon immediately grabbed the crowbar from his desk nearby and got up. The knocking continued after a few more seconds and stopped. Gordon raised his crowbar as he neared the door and slowly opened it up so he could fit his head out. Alyx appeared in front of him. She smiled at him embarrassed. "Gordon, I just heard from my dad about the cards, it's a good thing you found them."

She smiled again. Above her head Dog popped into view. "Dog heard about the mission you are going to do with him. He's really excited," Alyx commented as Dog fit his head through the door. His flaps folded back as his head went through. And when he was all the way through, the flaps went back to normal. Gordon smiled.

Alyx called to Dog. "Come on Dog, let's go."

Dog attempted to pull his head back out but one of the flaps got jammed and Dog was stuck. He tried again a few times but it would not move correctly. "Uh oh," Alyx said. "This has happened a few times, it'll just take a sec."

Alyx climbed up on top of Dog and began pulling the neck part back yanking Dog's head into the door and the wall. While Alyx was pulling Gordon opened his door more and Dog flew back. Alyx was tossed off of Dog and fell on the ground. She began laughing and got up. "Come on Dog, let's go."

Gordon slowly closed the door and lay back down on his bed. He had not slept in days. Not once did he fall asleep since his arrival in City 17. Even though he was stuck in a stasis for nearly 20 years, the recent events and battles brought great fatigue upon him. Gordon went to sleep, and dreamt only of the horrors of Black Mesa and City 17.


	5. Chapter 5: Our Gift

Chapter 5: "Our Gift"

Gordon, Dog, the light blue Combine who had now become known as 65, and the gray Combine numbered 14, along with four other Combine soldiers, one Elite, and three normal, were all gathered in a tactical room. The eight of them were surrounding a large table with a map on it. The map showed street 17, the street that lead directly to the Citadel.  
"Our goal," Said 14. "Is to create a diversion therefore misleading the enemy forces from areas near here." 14 fingered a location on the map that was Dr. Kliener's Lab. "This means that we want to be noticed to an extent. But we do not want to cause so much of a distraction that the entire G-Man army is set upon us."  
The soldiers nodded in understanding.  
65 spoke. "Street 17 is a major route street. It is large, wide, and populated with many side buildings. We will have plenty of room for cover in between the buildings." The white Elite began talking. "So leapfrog tactics would be best for the situation?" 14 responded. "Not necessarily. It really depends on where our enemy will be. If they are straight in the open, we just need to use cover wisely and gun them down. If they are behind the cover of other buildings, leapfrog tactics would possibly be used there. We would use either that or fire and maneuver." "It has been many, many years since we have fought these enemies. We have developed, evolved, and made our race stronger than ever before. The last time we fought them, we crumbled. I do not know how hard they may still be to us, but be careful. These enemies are smart." 65 mentioned. "Where is our drop zone?" A soldier asked. The Elite answered. "We will be touching down one mile from the Citadel walls. As 14 said, we are to create a distraction, while attempting to complete our mission. And so we have one mile to create a distraction." The Combine nodded. "Okay," Said 14. "Let's break up teams. We have three Combine soldiers, an Elite, 65, Dog, Gordon, and I. Gordon; you will pair up with Dog, and the Elite here, 102. 65 will also go with you. 65 is our main technician, he _can _fight, but he knows how to power up the Citadel best. Protecting him is very important. Make sure he lives. I will lead the other three Combine. 102, 65, and Dog; you three are under Gordon's command. You are to obey him.  
Dog nodded and started getting excited. "Once we get into the Citadel, we first make sure we clear out all important rooms that relate to powering up the Citadel. Once all the important key rooms are cleared 65 will be taking over command of the squads. I will be guarding 65 but no one else. Whatever 65 asks you to do, do it. It is important that the Citadel is running properly on time. We also must make sure that Breen's portal reactor is turned on so the Combine from Dr. Kliener's lab will be able to come to us. Once the Citadel is up and running we will receive new orders on what to do next. We depart for Earth in 2 hours. So get ready. Meet me in hanger bay 6 half an hour early. Dismissed."

Barney, Alyx, Dr. Kliener, and 78, along with two Elites, and two prison soldiers were in Dr. Kliener's room. "Here is Dr. Kliener's lab." Alyx pointed out on a map hung up on Dr. Kliener's lab wall. Barney addressed the Combine soldiers. "I have no doubt that the G-Man's forces have taken over this area so we will be taking a different route there this way we cannot be detected." "And what," asked 78, "route will we be taking?" "The sewers." Answered Alyx. "We may not run into the G-Man's forces here but the sewers are no doubt swamped with other creatures. But creatures are easier to fight than soldiers." 78 began talking. "We will be landing here, approximately two miles from Kliener's lab. The sewer system is nearby and from there we will be moving through a maze filled with zombies, antlions and any other creature you can think of. Not all of our forces were taken off the planet for we could not reach them all in time. This means that there may be some survivors, if any are found they immediately take priority number two." Kliener raised his hand. "And what would be our first priority?" 78 answered his question. "Keeping you alive Dr. Kliener. As we move through the sewers Alyx will be our guide. 53, I want you and 99 under Barney Calhoun's command." The prison guard and Elite nodded. "34 and 35, you two will be with me." "When do we leave?" Asked Alyx.  
"In two hours." Replied 78. "I want all of you to meet me in hanger bay 6 before we leave. Go get ready."

Both teams were standing in a line in front of their dropships in hanger bay 6. After a few minutes of waiting The Advisor came in floating in the air. He greeted the two teams by simply nodding to them and then spoke. "I want both teams to understand how important this mission his to the Combine and to the human race as well. Earth had been under the Combine control for nearly twenty years and our fortifications are well built. We have spent many, many years creating buildings, fortresses, armies, and other things to survive. We have worked hard to save our race and our lives, and now after the many years of work, our enemy has kicked us out of our establishment before our work was finished. We were shown that we cannot defeat the human race, but we cannot abandon the great works we have put into that planet. We must rebuild, and reconstruct now to survive. Another planet is not the answer to our problems, but saving this one. We will run away no longer, today we stand. Today my fellow Combine you are going to be part of the first assault, the first attack against our enemy, the first step in ridding the galaxy of the G-Man's forces forever.  
"Nova Prospect, Highway 17, The Citadel, City 17, City 18, and all of the other cities on Earth will be for nothing if we do not accomplish this mission. Our goal today is to establish a small resistance on the planet, to take the Citadel and Dr. Kliener's lab. If we can accomplish this we will be able to send Combine and Human soldiers throughout Earth and take back our planet. You know your goals; you know your land, now take it back. The other Advisors and I wanted to give you this."  
He levitated over to a nearby panel and hummed a low note. The panel opened up and revealed deep red and orange armor. "This is the armor of our new forces," Said the Advisor. "The red suits are for our Combine soldiers, and the orange is for the humans. Gordon you will of course keep the hazard suit. These suits contain fiber radioactive shield units giving you extra protection." The armor contained elegant designs. And on the helmet was a symbol. "These pieces of armor resemble that we are now one team, one group, one force. We are Combined Forces." As everyone suited up The Advisor opened up another panel to reveal a rack of special weapons. "And these are the new weapons for our fighting force. Everyone gets one of each. The weapons on the right are your long range standard issue rifles and the weapons on the left are your close range sub machine guns." The rifles contained an amazing lightweight feel, even though they were large. In the front were the barrel and a clip extending diagonally out from the gun. Underneath the gun was a pulse rifle energy orb launcher. The SMGs had a sleek look; the stock was a pull out type. On the bottom side of the stock was three or four jagged, sharp blades that protruded about four inches our. And they leaned in the direction so you could cut across forcefully. Two skinny long clips extended on the left and right sides of the gun a bit above the handle. On top of the SMG were two rails to carry the weapon. "Use these gifts to win back Earth." Finished the Advisor. The two teams climbed up onto their dropships and left for Earth. Gordon's team neared the street that led towards the Citadel. No enemies were in sight yet. 14 called out to his troops. "Check your weapons and ammo! Get ready! We are about to face our enemy for the first time in 200 years! Let's kick some a." The soldiers cheered and yelled as the dropship landed down. The shields lowered and Gordon took the first step off. He brought his rifle up and made his way down the dusty empty street. And the soldiers followed. Barney's team began landing down on a building rooftop. "Check your weapons and ammo people. Get ready to blow some scum away!" The dropship touched down and the soldiers along with Alyx and Kliener cluttered out. The group repelled down the building and found themselves at the entrance to City 17's sewer system. The team pulled their weapons out and made their way into the dark tunnels.


End file.
